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Okay, I'm coming out... but you know what happens if I get angry...!
You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

Well! Sorry this didn't come out sooner - I was pretty preoccupied all weekend. This review, incidentally, marks ONE full year of GK comments here at MH! Hoorah!

Seems like only yesterday I first visualized "Iruka-sensei" on the cover of Chapter 300 as being somebody who could appreciate shiny, red apples! These days, we've more exciting things happening and the upcoming year seems like it'll be a lot of fun. Might finally bring a close to one of the longest-running subplots in the series, too... but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one!

Thanks to Kylara as always for getting the RAW to us hungry fans, and the trio of HisshouBuraiKen, aine, and itsumobasho for their quick translations, and Cez for his MQ scanlation that I'll be using for this review.

Also, Shannaro - that's right, Shannaro, they're back on the scene - for all the memorable HQ scans they've done for us over the last three years. Especially RawS - one of their hardest working cleaners who has recently just decided to call it quits, so this seems like an appropriate time to thank him for all the cleans he's done on Naruto. So hey, be sure to give them a round of applause sometimes for the hard work they've done for us.

As a sidenote, if you guys don't mind waiting until Mondays or Tuesdays for my reviews, I'll probably be able to keep my full reviews going. I'll try at any rate.

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What I wouldn't give for some tasty McDonalds...!

Cover Comments. Here we get our first real view at Juugo in one of his more coherent moments. In some ways I feel as though Kishimoto made him look TOO clean and likable for an "imprisoned monster." I know the polished look was probably intended to make him more sympathetic, but I can think of several ways where his face could be modified in order to inspire hope even less. I mean, he's supposed to be a depressive sort of guy, isn't he? But here he seems like he does have a little hope. Well, maybe that was the idea.

You can tell there's quite a bit of wisdom in Juugo's eyes, and lazy intelligence as well - as though as he's seen it all. Or he thinks he has, at any rate. Perhaps meeting Team 7 as well as spending time with Sasuke and battling the Akatsuki will change his mind on that.

I believe Juugo is destined to have a tragic ending in the series, but we'll see.

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Easier said than done...

1. Take It or Leave It...! Suigetsu wasn't kidding when he said that Juugo would be a danger to them even when he was simply walking with them. They won't be able to let their guard down at all times, even when they're sleeping - that's certainly going to make night watches interesting! I wonder if Sasuke intends to hypnotize Juugo to sleep just to ensure he won't try to attack anybody then.

Sasuke made the only offer he could to Juugo that would have worked here. Juugo obviously came to Orochimaru out of desperation, hoping that there would be some chance that he would be able to rid himself of his little curse and still have a life. I think he DOES want to live. To completely abandon all hope is to be already dead, after all.

So giving Juugo a choice between being buried alive under rubble, when the prison crumbled, or joining his team where Sasuke could keep an eye on him at all times and stave off the "beast" inside him... smart.

The only thing left was HOW to convince Juugo that Sasuke was capable of such a feat on a constant basis. As if last chapter's little snaky demonstration wasn't sufficient enough.

2. A Monster to Stop a Monster...! Nothing really much to say here, I think, except the obvious. That is, to everybody who remembers Kimimaro's techniques back when he fought against Rock Lee in Part One.

(And if you forgot, might I suggest re-reading Naruto Volume 24? ;) )

Ok, alright, I have to admit, even with Juugo being able to metamorph his CS2 skin into slashing weapons, Kimimaro's skeletal manipulating abilities did seem like they would have been enough to at least freeze Juugo in place at least until his rage died away. Especially when Kimimaro wasn't ill, and also considering that his bones weren't as fragile as most people's. So I can see Kimimaro winning all their battles, and there goes my theory of Juugo having at least challenged him in some way.

Sidenote: You know, I didn't expect to ever hear Kimimaro's name again in the series. Zabuza even less! And in six chapters, we get to hear them both along with new characters who remember them. Makes one want to re-read the series all over again...!

I'm enjoying how Kishimoto's finding ways to somehow revisit even the characters who've died in his series so far.

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What a guy.

3. Loyal Lab Rats...! Geez, if anybody had any more doubt that Kimimaro used to be Orochimaru's most loyal flunky before he died, it was just quenched right here!

What I really want to know, though, is the credibility of this line in Hisshoumaru's translation.

"Kimimaro was the only subject in the whole organization whom I could work on without fear of resistance or violence.

Seemed to be an admission here that Karin did indeed do a lot of unwanted "Weapon X-like" research. Either way, there's no way she could have known all this without having done something herself.

(If you don't know "Weapon X" means, you probably don't read the X-Men - it's the Canadian facility that gave Wolverine his adamantium blades. And put him through all kinds of pain doing it.)

I gotta wonder if Karin sleeps soundly at night, because all this has got to be a big burden on a little girl's conscience. Especially if Kimimaro had been the only one to NOT resist. And if she didn't have any problems experimenting on people without their permission, then she's probably one sick puppy, ya know? Watch out for that.

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If only he knew...

4. Sasuke = Kimimaro? You know what, I wonder what Kimimaro would think if he saw Sasuke now. If Kimimaro HAD been reincarnated as Sasuke, he certainly didn't pass on his fealty to him.

Probably wouldn't say that Sasuke's existence was HIS own rebirth if he had known, and he definitely wouldn't have bothered to get out of his sick bed to try to bring back the Uchiha avenger.

But okay, let's think in terms of strength. HAS Sasuke grown as powerful as Kimimaro prior to the latter's illness? I can't see it, because Sasuke doesn't possess the same physical abilities as Kimimaro, but Kishimoto is likely to prove otherwise. Guess we'll find out through Juugo's eyes soon enough.

Sidenote: I liked the nicely done sequential telling here - the closing of one door and the opening of another. You can almost feel that Juugo was pinning all his hopes on Sasuke now.

I wonder if Kimimaro HAD been the last one that Juugo saw before Sasuke came along. If so, that's a pretty long time. But nah, probably just done for the drama.

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And by killing Itachi, I mean slowly and painfully, so that he begs for.. er... sorry.

5. Purpose...! I hadn't expected Sasuke to be so straight-forward with his teammates about what he was trying to accomplish, but I suppose he had no reason to really hide it.

Also, I had thought that Sasuke would have traveled around and trying to grow stronger, but he seems confident that he can take on Itachi already now, too.

It's rather interesting that this whole time that we've been following Sasuke, he's never mentioned Itachi until now. When he finally did here, you somehow got the feeling that this is going to be the arc we've all been waiting for.

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Naughty girl!

6. Omg, RAPE...! Man, the thoughts that went through my head here when Suigetsu suggested a mysterious "something" that Karin did to Sasuke in the past!

I'm going by what Hisshou said in the Discussion thread regarding the possibly ambiguous line.

On the subject of what Suigetsu was about to say,

I think my translation is the more accurate way to go, because of the lack of a particle between "mukashi" and "kimi". Literally, it is, "A long time ago, you, to sasuke, [did a verb we don't know]"

Not "Since a long time ago", not, "For a long time now", just "a long time ago." The ambiguity of that line doesn't translate well into english, and hindsight will produce a better translation for that line. I'm regretting not being more liberal and using one of my other ideas, which was, "You've got a secret...something that happened a long time ago...something involving Sasuke." That, in retrospect, conveys that there's something related to Sasuke in Karin's past without commiting to anything.

What do I think? Since Suigetsu taunted Karin about it, and she got so upset about it, I'm betting it was something that Sasuke wouldn't have liked. Could she have somehow condemned his blood? Or altered his genetic structure so that the Sharingan might not have so much an effect on her?

Guess we'll just have to wait and see. I'm sort of surprised that Sasuke, being right there and presumably having heard what Suigetsu had said, didn't just demand the answers right then...

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He's all wet...!

7. Water Boy! If somebody I knew had a face that would explode into liquid if I slapped it, I'd probably do it all the time, too!

Well, we finally got confirmation of Suigetsu's ability to be able to turn into liquid. Reminds me a bit of the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, except Suigetsu's not made of liquid metal, just liquid, and he's definitely not a robot masquerading as a human.

In battle, Suigetsu's not going to be able to move as liquid without losing his clothes and sword though, which will probably limit his movements, but how exactly can you hurt him?

Sai is probably the only one that would give him pause, as I'm sure Suigetsu won't like being mixed with ink or other foreign liquid substances. Electricity is another possibility, and even heat, since we don't know yet if Suigetsu would enjoy his body being boiled by, say, the sheer intensity of the Rasengan hitting him.

I can't help but think that Suigetsu is somehow related to the Mizukage now, though, because his water elemental powers are something you'd think would be held in high esteem in the Water Country.

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You know just how much I love 'em sharp, bright stuff.

8. The Resurrection of Chō...! Don't know who Chō is? He was a 'sword collector' in the pages of Rurouni Kenshin, which is a great manga - read it sometimes!

Anyway, while the idea isn't that original, and may even be "lame" as Karin put it, but it seems as though we might find out more about the Kisame and Mist Swordsmen than we all thought we would, so I like that aspect of Suigetsu's mission here. Though it almost seems too convenient...! But well, I guess that's why Sasuke chose him in the first place.

I like that we did find out why Suigetsu intended to be with Sasuke for the duration of their search for Itachi - it makes a lot more sense, and I suppose this also means that Sasuke won't have to worry about Suigetsu wandering off on his own now.

Question is, does Suigetsu want more than just Kisame's sword? Does he intend to create his own Seven, or is he going to use all these swords for himself? I'm starting to wonder if Suigetsu can create more than two "Hulkized" arms out of his "water body" to wield all these swords! But anyway...!

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You mean besides the fact he nearly made you wet your shorts last chapter?

9. Sasuke's Strength...! This is starting to sound a bit Dragonballz-ish.

I mean, what does it matter if Sasuke is strong to Juugo - besides, of course, having somebody that can keep his "evil alter ego" under control? I would have expected that Juugo would hope that Sasuke would help him with a cure for his ailment.

Suigetsu's motivation did make sense to me, but Juugo's somewhat disappointed me. He didn't even ask Sasuke to help him as compensation for his coming along!

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It's open season on Itachi!

10. The Mission...! Alright, so maybe Naruto might have known Sasuke better than I thought after all. Immediately after learning that Sasuke wouldn't be coming back, he knew what he was doing.

What else but hunting down the nemesis of his life, that little weasel, Uchiha Itachi?

I have to admit this all surprised me that they would immediately all orient on Itachi now, but maybe it's just as well. I'd like to see Kishimoto finally do something with this subplot that's been around since nearly the very beginning of the series. I mean, I don't want to see Sasuke stuck with this goal the ENTIRE series. It's getting somewhat old.

RATING: 4 of 5 - You might be surprised at the rating here. Okay, so the idea of a mission FINALLY dealing with Itachi himself gave me a slight buzz at the end of the chapter, but otherwise, this chapter didn't really make me go "WOW" or anything like that. You'll notice I couldn't really come up with a lot to say for this one. I think I need either a little bit of action, or some more entertaining or dramatic dialogue, or a few answers that make sense to make me be able to think of any chapter as "perfect." Though I'll admit, Karin's bitch-slap was fun, but that was just because of Suigetsu's reaction to it. We still don't really know THAT much about either Karin or Juugo yet.

PREDICTIONS: We're probably going back to Naruto and company again and seeing whether Tsunade will really allow them to hunt down Itachi or not. Seems to me like they would need some sort of special preparation. Well, one thing's for sure, if they DO try to find Itachi, Kakashi's going to have to come along this time around. I hope.

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Yes, we used to be cute. Deal with it...!
Comment! ^^

SilveryShadows

April 30, 2007, 10:40 PM

Congrats!

How can he has seen it all when he had been locked in the cell for a long time? Don't teens (he looks like a teen) tend think they know it all?

2. Indeed. It was surprising to hear of those three again. Though not a fan of them myself, it still was nice to hear of them again.

Does Juugo know Sasuke "killed" Orochimaru? Or does Juugo not care that much about Orochimaru? I don't suppose any of them really cares about Orochimaru, but.. They didn't exactly show Naruto's kind of happy expression.

5. She experimented on him without him knowing? Gave him drugs? Something medical was what I had thought at first.

Sasuke was all "Sasuke is the hawk, and hawk can beat the white snake that is Orochimaru. Snake can never fly, etc." and I'm not quoting this accurately, at all.
Now, he calls his team Snake. Does Sasuke really have control over Orochimaru? Is it an Uchiha trait to lack creativity?
It was funny at first, when I read the spoilers.

Great comments! ^^

Gold Knight

April 30, 2007, 10:46 PM

Thanks for adding your thoughts!

No opinion really on the team name, it's just a name - I'm assuming Sasuke wanted to keep it less known that there's a "Team Sasuke" traveling around the Five Lands, wait 'til he finds out Suigetsu has already pretty much made it known everywhere! But I guess Sasuke doesn't know yet so he went ahead and just came up with a team codename that made sense to him since they were all formerly part of "Orochimaru's family" so to speak. It seems a name that would just pop to mind without much thinking, so why not.

SilveryShadows

April 30, 2007, 10:50 PM

But he could have used any name, basically, yet he chose Snake. I just find it funny, and kinda stupid? I didn't expect him to pick that, after his long speech of 'putting down snake/oro' during his fight against Orochimaru.

Gold Knight

April 30, 2007, 10:53 PM

Well, after he demonstrated the remarkable ability to sprout two huge-ass snakes from his sleeves, it seems snakes have been on his mind lately anyway...

And it's not like the other three members of his team can fly like hawks. (I think.) He probably chose the name to best describe them all collectively, not just him.

MadDog

April 30, 2007, 11:07 PM

Nice comments GK.

I'm going to disagree slightly on Kimimaro (pre sickness) being stronger than present day Sasuke. Kishimoto has potrayed him as almost too powerful recently and Juugo will probably see Sasuke as Kimimaro reborn as someone even more powerful than before.

Karin's look of shock when Suigetsu tattled on her was great. She obviously did something that she's like to keep secet, if possible. One thought that came to mind right away was "tracking." As we're not sure how her power actually works, she may have helped physically alter Sasuke (similar to what you were saying) so that he can be located at any point. Not sure if this idea works (given that the primary beneficiary, Orochimaru, is out of the picture). Either way, I'm hoping Sasuke gets the truth out of her (a small dab of killing intent would do the trick).

I like how Karin literally smacked the grin off Suigetsu's face (or more like, his face off his face). I guess you could mix him in some cement and try to slow him down, but the best way to stop Suigetsu is probably a lightning jutsu. Nothing shocking :XD (sorry, really bad joke)

It feels like the story is gaining momentum towards a really big moment. I don't however, think that Naruto gets permission to go after Itachi. He's still recoving, plus there's no way that Tsunade and Jiraiya would allow it.

Gold Knight

May 01, 2007, 12:01 AM

Heya MadDog.

I didn't exactly say that I believed Kimimaro was stronger than Sasuke, just that I have a hard time seeing it being possible considering that compared to what we HAVE seen from Kimimaro so far, Sasuke hasn't exactly done anything that took our breath away nearly as much.

But while I don't think Sasuke could replicate the same kind of overwhelming strength, at least physically, if Sasuke were to harness the full potential of the genjutsu that his Sharingan could conjure, much like Itachi, I guess he could stop Kimimaro in his tracks long before he could even have a chance to counter-attack. (IE what Itachi did to Orochimaru.)

Good thinking on the "tracking" theory. More I think about it, the more I think you're right there.

pseudorca

May 01, 2007, 12:42 AM

Hi there, loved your comments! :D

Just one thing that came to my attention was the idea of Suigetsu trying to collect the swords of the seven swordsmen (and I really loved how you mentioned chou from RK there, he was one of my favourite bad-guy in RK ^^), do you think that he is planning to store them in scrolls so that he can carry them around?
And I wonder how the anime would respond to this, regarding the anime only swordsmen, raiga...

btw, I agree with maddog, I don't see naruto being allowed to go after itachi, don't think that he'll stay calm about that either...

matsyes

May 01, 2007, 01:27 AM

Love the comments will reply to them in more detail later.
But one think struck me, I think kimmimaro was as close juggo got to having a friend and this friend of his died to protect sasuke. So I think his wanting to know how strong sasuke is, is to determine in his mind whether it was justified for kimmi to go get himself killed for sasuke's sake and to better know the person due to who he lost a friend in what has probably been a pretty lonely life.

MadDog

May 01, 2007, 02:00 AM

Heya MadDog.

I didn't exactly say that I believed Kimimaro was stronger than Sasuke, just that I have a hard time seeing it being possible considering that compared to what we HAVE seen from Kimimaro so far, Sasuke hasn't exactly done anything that took our breath away nearly as much.

But while I don't think Sasuke could replicate the same kind of overwhelming strength, at least physically, if Sasuke were to harness the full potential of the genjutsu that his Sharingan could conjure, much like Itachi, I guess he could stop Kimimaro in his tracks long before he could even have a chance to counter-attack. (IE what Itachi did to Orochimaru.)

Good thinking on the "tracking" theory. More I think about it, the more I think you're right there.

Gold Knight-
After re-reading, I totally misread your comments on Sasuke's strength vs. Kimimaro's (sorry about that!) Yeah, Kimimaro's strength and outright combat ability was frightening. Physically, I doubt Sasuke's reached that level yet. We've seen glimpses (the scene after Sasuke defeated an outrageous numbe of ninja) but nothing to indicate that he defeated them purely with taijutsu/physical strength alone. Sasuke is obviously no slouch, but he doesn't have the overwhelming/relentless physical ability of Kimimaro.

Ryoma_Echizen

May 01, 2007, 03:50 AM

Who needs physical strength with ultimate speed and a chidori blade. Kimimaro just gets sliced even with his hard bones. The ultimate representation of Sasuke's power is how much he has done with so little. He is so powerful that he only needs to expend a minimal amount of effort. It seems to me that Sasuke could defeat Kimimaro without using any techniques.

I mean you can do extremely powerful taijutsu like Gai or Kimimaro and it looks very impressive. However it seems a bit silly in the face of a sword or Gentle Fist. (Although unrelated, I wonder why one would use 64 Palms when you can just use a single chakra attack to the heart and kill them.) Power is overrated.

Karin definitely has some sort of plan. It makes it even more interesting that she is Sasuke's fangirl. The line about her and Sasuke's relationship is ridiculously vague. It could be absolutely anything. We see Karin slap Suigetsu as opposed to say yelling at him, or pleading with him not to reveal his information. I bet that the thing Karin did was nothing more than her having a crush 3 years ago when Sasuke was brought in or something similar. For some reason if Karin's plan were more sinister or serious Sasuke would have asked about it or Suigetsu would have revealed it to Sasuke.

I think a meeting with Itachi will be very interesting for both parties. Although it doesn't seem like it with all that Itachi has done, we really haven't seen the extent of his power. He has yet to fight an opponent on a reasonable level. Naruto seems hopelessly outclassed by both Sasuke and Itachi. I wonder how he'll even the gap. A Sasuke/Kakashi battle seems likely. I hope Kakashi isn't killed by Sasuke... I'm dreading that possibility.

-Ryoma Echizen

hitokugutsu

May 01, 2007, 05:06 AM

@ GK

Comment nr 7 --> As for Suigetsu's liquid ability it isn't that new in Naruto. In Naruto very first fight against the Demon Brothers (Zabuza's sidekicks or something) you could see that they also arose from water that was lying on the ground and they were able to keep their clothes on ;)
So I dont think it will slow down his movements or that he has to be completely naked to take full advantage of his ability

chvis002

May 01, 2007, 06:22 AM

Great job GK, I've missed reading you comments :thumbs

I always thought that keep Juugo under control (or mayby even cure him) by using his sharingan. As it seems now Sasuke is going to use brute force instead, not cool. I wish to see his sharingan abit more

What I don't get is why they need to find Sasuke so desperatly now. It's not like he's working agianst Konoha, quite the contrary. Let him do his revenge like he always wanted, cuz he's probably not comming back once he's done and helping him would probably only hurt his beloved pride and all that

conan

May 01, 2007, 06:58 AM

wow. one whole year, I have to say its been really fun discussing your ten comments, I hope they go on for another few years? what are your thoughts GK :).

ok to comment on your ten comments, first is the issue of sasuke being as strong as kimmimaro, I dont think so, maybe with the cursed seal he might get somwhere but kimmimaro has his own cursed seal, but I cant help but wonder how it would have been for orochimaru if kimmimaro wasnt ill or dead, and how things would have turned out for the naruto's world, well thats over now, poor orochimaru, so close yet so far.

second is I liked your comments about the physics of suigetsus melting water head and how to fight it :) that was good.

third, the seven swordsmen, what are they going to do about raiga, will kisimoto comply with the anime or go his own way , I dont know, but somehow for now I dont think its a really big issue, finally, umm you didnt comment a bit about what was happening in narutos side, other than that your comments are as usual, detailed and very informative and amusing.

also I agree with you that this chapter was good for the possibilities it gives us for the future, its starting something new which mingles the fates of some the most important charracters in naruto, thats why I think it was a good chapter.

thanks for the comments GK.

ibra87

May 01, 2007, 10:23 AM

Just a few thoughts.

I think Kishimoto got the idea for Suigetsu from One Piece (devil fruits and all). They'll probably need a special way to defeat him, like how they needed water to defeat Crocodile, but I wonder what? I don't think he's going to sit there and get hit by fire, but who knows.

And who knows if Suigetsu had this ability since his birth? It's highly possible that it's a result of Orochimaru's experiments, so have to say I don't believe your idea of him being related to the Mizukage there, heh.

As for the next few chapters, we'll hopefully see an arc about Itachi. Like last time when they showed Sasuke and Orochimaru in the last page of a chapter we got an arc about Sasuke recruiting his teammates. Besides, "a big storm is coming" is not Itachi enough to satisfy us!

wykowsuki

May 01, 2007, 11:26 AM

Regarding the Konaha side of this chapter, other than the obvious 1st question, will Naruto be allowed to go after Itachi and Sasuke ?

The Question I'm thinking about is, What will be Jiraiya's involvement in this Sasuke/Itachi Arc? Both Jiraiya and Naruto were there the last time the brothers met. Is Jiraiya merely a messenger, or has the time come for The Perverted Hermit to act on the information he been gathering all this time.

Somehow I don't see Team Snake completeing their goal anytime soon. Most likely Naruto will somehow get in Sasuke's way, and Sasuke will temporarly hate Naruto for it.
(Itachi will probably end up being one of the last Ak members remaining, I definately see him as a major player in any possible Akatsuki/Konaha War, he definatly won't go down as easy as Orochimaru)

Gold Knight

May 02, 2007, 01:20 PM

Hi there, loved your comments! :D

Just one thing that came to my attention was the idea of Suigetsu trying to collect the swords of the seven swordsmen (and I really loved how you mentioned chou from RK there, he was one of my favourite bad-guy in RK ^^), do you think that he is planning to store them in scrolls so that he can carry them around?

I didn't think of that, but by jove, that would make sense... and he'd be able to summon different swords for particular battles. Neat-o! (Plus it wouldn't tire him out walking with them all the time! He must be doing it to try to get more used to wielding them...)

And I wonder how the anime would respond to this, regarding the anime only swordsmen, raiga...

I haven't watched that part. Where did Raiga's sword end up after he was defeated?

btw, I agree with maddog, I don't see naruto being allowed to go after itachi, don't think that he'll stay calm about that either...

We'll see - Old Tsunade seems to let Naruto get his way a lot of times.

Love the comments will reply to them in more detail later.
But one think struck me, I think kimmimaro was as close juggo got to having a friend and this friend of his died to protect sasuke. So I think his wanting to know how strong sasuke is, is to determine in his mind whether it was justified for kimmi to go get himself killed for sasuke's sake and to better know the person due to who he lost a friend in what has probably been a pretty lonely life.

Yeah, but I don't think that should be Juugo's only motivation for going with Sasuke. In fact, it should have been more of a secondary motivation, something that Juugo didn't say out aloud.

Gold Knight-
After re-reading, I totally misread your comments on Sasuke's strength vs. Kimimaro's (sorry about that!) Yeah, Kimimaro's strength and outright combat ability was frightening. Physically, I doubt Sasuke's reached that level yet. We've seen glimpses (the scene after Sasuke defeated an outrageous numbe of ninja) but nothing to indicate that he defeated them purely with taijutsu/physical strength alone. Sasuke is obviously no slouch, but he doesn't have the overwhelming/relentless physical ability of Kimimaro.

No problem. And yeah, that's what I'm thinking, too.

Who needs physical strength with ultimate speed and a chidori blade. Kimimaro just gets sliced even with his hard bones. The ultimate representation of Sasuke's power is how much he has done with so little. He is so powerful that he only needs to expend a minimal amount of effort. It seems to me that Sasuke could defeat Kimimaro without using any techniques.

I mean you can do extremely powerful taijutsu like Gai or Kimimaro and it looks very impressive. However it seems a bit silly in the face of a sword or Gentle Fist. (Although unrelated, I wonder why one would use 64 Palms when you can just use a single chakra attack to the heart and kill them.) Power is overrated.

Yeah, but it seems almost cheating somehow in comparison, though. Sasuke was always hyped up to be one of the more powerful hand-to-hand combatants and ninja and yet he's only going to have to depend on his Sharingan if he wants to win quickly. You could say it's a technique to "take the fight" out of his opponents...

Not quite the same, IMO, as Kimimaro's, or even Gaara's, techniques.

I think Juugo is going to be bored if it's just Sasuke becoming nothing more than a snake charmer.

Karin definitely has some sort of plan. It makes it even more interesting that she is Sasuke's fangirl. The line about her and Sasuke's relationship is ridiculously vague. It could be absolutely anything. We see Karin slap Suigetsu as opposed to say yelling at him, or pleading with him not to reveal his information. I bet that the thing Karin did was nothing more than her having a crush 3 years ago when Sasuke was brought in or something similar. For some reason if Karin's plan were more sinister or serious Sasuke would have asked about it or Suigetsu would have revealed it to Sasuke.

You could be right, but I get the feeling it's more than implied romantic feelings... but I guess we'll find out all in good time, eh?

I think a meeting with Itachi will be very interesting for both parties. Although it doesn't seem like it with all that Itachi has done, we really haven't seen the extent of his power. He has yet to fight an opponent on a reasonable level. Naruto seems hopelessly outclassed by both Sasuke and Itachi. I wonder how he'll even the gap. A Sasuke/Kakashi battle seems likely. I hope Kakashi isn't killed by Sasuke... I'm dreading that possibility.

-Ryoma Echizen

Kakashi killed by...! -___- :faint

If that happens, I'll switch over to doing Bleach Ten Comments instead.

@ GK

Comment nr 7 --> As for Suigetsu's liquid ability it isn't that new in Naruto. In Naruto very first fight against the Demon Brothers (Zabuza's sidekicks or something) you could see that they also arose from water that was lying on the ground and they were able to keep their clothes on ;)
So I dont think it will slow down his movements or that he has to be completely naked to take full advantage of his ability

I think the Demon Brothers were just hiding in these ponds (small, though!) because if they had the ability to turn into liquid, they could have escaped the ropes that Kakashi tied them with later on, easily.

It could be that they had the ability to be able to merge with liquid, though. It would be pretty fun if we were to hear from them again in Part 2 sometimes.

Great job GK, I've missed reading you comments :thumbs

I always thought that keep Juugo under control (or mayby even cure him) by using his sharingan. As it seems now Sasuke is going to use brute force instead, not cool. I wish to see his sharingan abit more

What I don't get is why they need to find Sasuke so desperatly now. It's not like he's working agianst Konoha, quite the contrary. Let him do his revenge like he always wanted, cuz he's probably not comming back once he's done and helping him would probably only hurt his beloved pride and all that

Thanks =)

How do you know Sasuke is going to use brute force, though? I think he IS going to use his Sharingan.

Yeah, I still think Naruto and Sakura are a bit too obsessed with Sasuke at the moment. You'd think that they'd butt out now that they've realized that Sasuke did just fine against Orochimaru on his own. I didn't say anything about that because I wanted to see a bit more of what Sakura and Naruto are thinking next chapter.

wow. one whole year, I have to say its been really fun discussing your ten comments, I hope they go on for another few years? what are your thoughts GK :).

Thanks =) It's been a cool year talking with y'all, too. Well, I've got to get a job as well as go back to graduate school (hence why I stepped down from admin)... but if there's only one thing that I'm able to do on MH anymore these days, this will be it. ;)

ok to comment on your ten comments, first is the issue of sasuke being as strong as kimmimaro, I dont think so, maybe with the cursed seal he might get somwhere but kimmimaro has his own cursed seal, but I cant help but wonder how it would have been for orochimaru if kimmimaro wasnt ill or dead, and how things would have turned out for the naruto's world, well thats over now, poor orochimaru, so close yet so far.

second is I liked your comments about the physics of suigetsus melting water head and how to fight it :) that was good.

third, the seven swordsmen, what are they going to do about raiga, will kisimoto comply with the anime or go his own way , I dont know, but somehow for now I dont think its a really big issue, finally, umm you didnt comment a bit about what was happening in narutos side, other than that your comments are as usual, detailed and very informative and amusing.

also I agree with you that this chapter was good for the possibilities it gives us for the future, its starting something new which mingles the fates of some the most important charracters in naruto, thats why I think it was a good chapter.

thanks for the comments GK.

I didn't comment much about what was happening on Naruto's side because I didn't really see much to say right away. I have a feeling I'll have plenty to say next chapter tho. Thanks for your thoughts ^^

Just a few thoughts.

I think Kishimoto got the idea for Suigetsu from One Piece (devil fruits and all). They'll probably need a special way to defeat him, like how they needed water to defeat Crocodile, but I wonder what? I don't think he's going to sit there and get hit by fire, but who knows.

And who knows if Suigetsu had this ability since his birth? It's highly possible that it's a result of Orochimaru's experiments, so have to say I don't believe your idea of him being related to the Mizukage there, heh.

As for the next few chapters, we'll hopefully see an arc about Itachi. Like last time when they showed Sasuke and Orochimaru in the last page of a chapter we got an arc about Sasuke recruiting his teammates. Besides, "a big storm is coming" is not Itachi enough to satisfy us!

Well, Sai still seems like the best bet to me to defeating Suigetsu. At least Kisame won't be able to wash Suigetsu away with his "water jutsus." And yeah, it could be an experiment of Orochimaru's, but somehow I don't get that feeling.

Hey, even if he's not related to the Mizukage, he could possibly be the next one sometimes :D

I don't think we'll ever have an arc specifically about Itachi and Kisame, though I do hope to see more scenes with them conversing. =)

Regarding the Konaha side of this chapter, other than the obvious 1st question, will Naruto be allowed to go after Itachi and Sasuke ?

Will have to see next chapter!

The Question I'm thinking about is, What will be Jiraiya's involvement in this Sasuke/Itachi Arc? Both Jiraiya and Naruto were there the last time the brothers met. Is Jiraiya merely a messenger, or has the time come for The Perverted Hermit to act on the information he been gathering all this time.

I'd love to see Jiraiya have more of a role and actually he'd probably make a better tag-along than Kakashi. Or to have them BOTH come along... That would be fun. Too bad we can't have Yamato, Kakashi, and Jiraiya and travel to fight Itachi and Kisame. That'd probably make more sense than Naruto and Sakura >___>

Somehow I don't see Team Snake completeing their goal anytime soon. Most likely Naruto will somehow get in Sasuke's way, and Sasuke will temporarly hate Naruto for it.
(Itachi will probably end up being one of the last Ak members remaining, I definately see him as a major player in any possible Akatsuki/Konaha War, he definatly won't go down as easy as Orochimaru)

Probably. And I don't know now if there WILL even be an Akatsuki/Konoha war. As it is right now, they don't have enough members, I think, to be able to extract a bijuu. They're probably recruiting right now, and if even one more Akatsuki goes down again, it's going to set their plans back too much for them to be able to meet the "deadline" that they've apparently imposed on themselves.

Many thanks for all the comments! ^^

conan

May 02, 2007, 03:11 PM

Thanks =) It's been a cool year talking with y'all, too. Well, I've got to get a job as well as go back to graduate school (hence why I stepped down from admin)... but if there's only one thing that I'm able to do on MH anymore these days, this will be it. ;)

awesome :) well good luck with getting a job and going back to school, but didn't you see you already work as a photographer ?

arslan

May 02, 2007, 06:05 PM

good luck with college GK. though if you don't mind me asking, what do you intend to study in college.

Gold Knight

May 03, 2007, 02:05 PM

conan - I'm a freelance photographer, and worked for an agency that I started to dislike, so quit them. After I moved I haven't found many opportunities to photograph although I haven't really gone out of my way to try to find potential employers in my new area yet. I haven't really needed the money either after the move, until now, because of my current circumstances.

I planned to go to graduate school this fall, but that turned out to be not possible, so I have to start paying off my college loans. ;)

But I'm planning to go back in the winter if it kills me! xD

@ arslan - going to get a masters in history since I already know quite a fair bit about it thanks to my art history major. decided to become a teacher, it's less risky a job than a photographer, not to mention I love talking anyway >__>

conan

May 03, 2007, 02:27 PM

conan - I'm a freelance photographer, and worked for an agency that I started to dislike, so quit them. After I moved I haven't found many opportunities to photograph although I haven't really gone out of my way to try to find potential employers in my new area yet. I haven't really needed the money either after the move, until now, because of my current circumstances.

I planned to go to graduate school this fall, but that turned out to be not possible, so I have to start paying off my college loans. ;)
well good luck with that, seems you have it all planned out.

But I'm planning to go back in the winter if it kills me! xD
now your starting to sound like naruto or luffy :).

kadodo

May 04, 2007, 11:53 PM

We find out in this chapter that Kimimaro was very loyal to Oro. Was Juugo the same way to orochimaru?

What if Juugo was loyal to Oro because he wanted to follow Kimimaro's footsteps. Does Juugo knows that Saskue killed ORO? What will he do if he found out about it?

Gold Knight

May 05, 2007, 01:07 PM

We already knew Kimimaro was incredibly loyal to Orochimaru by the way he sacrificed himself just to find somebody else that Orochimaru considered to be a "worthy" subservient.

I don't believe Juugo had any sort of allegiance to Orochimaru, how could he, having been locked up all these years? One thing that really doesn't make sense to me, though, is that Juugo should have realized that Orochimaru was exploiting his ability and spreading it to OTHER people. Wouldn't that have been enough for Juugo to realize he wasn't doing any good being a prisoner of Orochimaru? But I guess he didn't think he had anywhere else to go.

lordHokage

May 06, 2007, 10:22 AM

GK, great comments as always, I have no complaints. Congratulations on your one year accomplishment and may you continue to strive for excellence throughout the years. :)

juUnior

May 06, 2007, 12:25 PM

GK great comments as always :D

First of all, I dont mind having Your reviews GK later on, if they are full, that's just wonderful xD

I believe Juugo is destined to have a tragic ending in the series, but we'll see.
I believe the same. Like Kimimaro heh Also CS would didnt exist (if Juugo is the one with that)

Sidenote: You know, I didn't expect to ever hear Kimimaro's name again in the series. Zabuza even less! And in six chapters, we get to hear them both along with new characters who remember them. Makes one want to re-read the series all over again...!

I'm enjoying how Kishimoto's finding ways to somehow revisit even the characters who've died in his series so far.
Ehh yes, it's just superb :D

But okay, let's think in terms of strength. HAS Sasuke grown as powerful as Kimimaro prior to the latter's illness? I can't see it, because Sasuke doesn't possess the same physical abilities as Kimimaro, but Kishimoto is likely to prove otherwise. Guess we'll find out through Juugo's eyes soon enough.
hmm that's true, and even to that, Kimimaro was tajutsu and physical user mostly, and Saske seems to be tajutsu and genjutsu. It differs as much as their bloodline ^^

Sidenote: I liked the nicely done sequential telling here - the closing of one door and the opening of another. You can almost feel that Juugo was pinning all his hopes on Sasuke now.
xDxD

I hadn't expected Sasuke to be so straight-forward with his teammates about what he was trying to accomplish, but I suppose he had no reason to really hide it.
Yes, and Suigetsu even told, that he thought about that hehe

It's rather interesting that this whole time that we've been following Sasuke, he's never mentioned Itachi until now. When he finally did here, you somehow got the feeling that this is going to be the arc we've all been waiting for.
Actually, really true. And it even suggest to compare the old Saske from part 1 with shouting: kill Itachi, kill Itachi, and the Saske from part 2 with stoic mind xD

Guess we'll just have to wait and see. I'm sort of surprised that Sasuke, being right there and presumably having heard what Suigetsu had said, didn't just demand the answers right then...
Maybe it's not important afterall..

If somebody I knew had a face that would explode into liquid if I slapped it, I'd probably do it all the time, too!

Well, we finally got confirmation of Suigetsu's ability to be able to turn into liquid. Reminds me a bit of the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, except Suigetsu's not made of liquid metal, just liquid, and he's definitely not a robot masquerading as a human.
hehe I have differnt thought when I saw it, to the man from "Men in Black" which when his head was shoot he recovered head xD

Anyway, while the idea isn't that original, and may even be "lame" as Karin put it, but it seems as though we might find out more about the Kisame and Mist Swordsmen than we all thought we would, so I like that aspect of Suigetsu's mission here.
Yes, it can be cool.

I mean, what does it matter if Sasuke is strong to Juugo - besides, of course, having somebody that can keep his "evil alter ego" under control? I would have expected that Juugo would hope that Sasuke would help him with a cure for his ailment.
I hope that too, but it must be quite iportant to Juugo to see Saske true strengh, to have belived that his somewhat Kimimaro reborn ^^

It's open season on Itachi!
xDxD

Alright, so maybe Naruto might have known Sasuke better than I thought after all. Immediately after learning that Sasuke wouldn't be coming back, he knew what he was doing.
Naruto is thinking :x

I mean, I don't want to see Sasuke stuck with this goal the ENTIRE series. It's getting somewhat old.
Excatly.

Well, one thing's for sure, if they DO try to find Itachi, Kakashi's going to have to come along this time around. I hope.
The same can by with Yamato, as he is the one possesing the ability to stop Kyubi chakra from Naruto ;p

Who needs physical strength with ultimate speed and a chidori blade. Kimimaro just gets sliced even with his hard bones. The ultimate representation of Sasuke's power is how much he has done with so little. He is so powerful that he only needs to expend a minimal amount of effort. It seems to me that Sasuke could defeat Kimimaro without using any techniques.
Actually it cant be said, that bones would be pierced by Saske blade. And I think Kimimaro was really good with taijutsu. That can be vaired which would be better.

A Sasuke/Kakashi battle seems likely. I hope Kakashi isn't killed by Sasuke... I'm dreading that possibility.
hehe NOOOO xD And Saske would not kill Kakashi, he seems to matter life of every men he fought/trained, so I exclude possibility from the hands of Saske.

Comment nr 7 --> As for Suigetsu's liquid ability it isn't that new in Naruto. In Naruto very first fight against the Demon Brothers (Zabuza's sidekicks or something) you could see that they also arose from water that was lying on the ground and they were able to keep their clothes on
So I dont think it will slow down his movements or that he has to be completely naked to take full advantage of his ability
Good point.

We find out in this chapter that Kimimaro was very loyal to Oro. Was Juugo the same way to orochimaru?
Rather probably more less than Kimimaro, but defiently he saw Orochimaru as doctor, from what was told. And also, he probably respected much more Kimimaro (I base from falshback and his telling about him)

Gold Knight

May 07, 2007, 08:33 PM

Thanks, Lord Hokage :)

juUnior, hey there ^^ And I suppose Juugo WOULD have respected Orochimaru once at least - he wouldn't have gone to him otherwise - but that was before, what about now? I think it was more that Juugo was concerned about Kimimaro than he was for Orochimaru, he seemed like the only friend Juugo had.

I don't mind telling ya guys I am extremely thankful for the one week break from Naruto, I don't think I could have done a review today xD I'm tired and sunburnt. Well, later guys, don't get too impatient for the next chapter ^^

lordHokage

May 09, 2007, 06:24 AM

You welcome :eyeroll

llamapie

May 09, 2007, 10:20 PM

Great job yet again GK. Your analytical skills must be a bloodline.

One thing that you may want to look at is that inevitably Sasuke and Naruto are gonna meet again possibly while battling Itachi.. How will Sasuke treat it this time? I mean he was willing to do something "forbidden" to them the last time they met to only be stopped by oro.

Gold Knight

May 10, 2007, 05:04 AM

Okay, I'm getting all geared up for the next chapter of Naruto, who's with me in hoping this next one will be a good one? >_>

llamapie, I'll wager that Sasuke will try to completely ignore and bypass Naruto. And Naruto will be very, very displeased but can't do much of anything except follow Sasuke's team ;)

arslan

May 10, 2007, 02:41 PM

Okay, I'm getting all geared up for the next chapter of Naruto, who's with me in hoping this next one will be a good one? >_>

llamapie, I'll wager that Sasuke will try to completely ignore and bypass Naruto. And Naruto will be very, very displeased but can't do much of anything except follow Sasuke's team ;)

i am ready for a good naruto chapter though this week is going hard on me. four ap exams to worry about.:( i am done with two but history and physics remain:s

Gold Knight

May 14, 2007, 01:29 PM

I apologize for being late this time around - I'm not likely to do a review until tomorrow.